determinism: ev expln suggests genes dictate exactly how you will behave. ev psychs suggest that genes only predispose us. so men are inclined to be hunters but they may not necessarily act on this.

biological appr. the alt view is that behaviour is nurture based.

division of labour

the role division may have evolved as women spend most of their adult life preggers or nursing. if women were hunting it would reduce the group's reproductive success. however, women could help growing veg and milling grain etc.

so not only does division of labour help the reproductiveness of the group but also helps avoid starvation!

Kuner and Stein suggested that gender division may be why humans survived and neanderthals didn't. both men and Women hunted so when it was unsuccessful the group starved. the division on labour helped us to survive.

mate choice

the key to adaptive behaviour is reproductive success, therefore many gender role behaviours are linked to reproductive strategies. in evolutionary terms, males look for women who are most fertile and young and healthy whereas women look more for men who can provide for them

cognitive style

E-S theory: women are better at Empathising, where as men are better at Systematising. Baron-Cohen proposed this may be as a result of selective pressure for males as those who could systematise better would be better at hunting.

Tend and befriend : women may be more focused on interpersonal relationships. Taylor proposed that this may stem from the challenges faced by men and women when dealing with stress in the EEA. this leads to a female tendency to "tend and befriend" at times of stress whereas men are more likely to become defensive.

evaluation

speculative theories: evolutionary explanations ignore social factors and are determinist. another critisism is that they are speculative e.g. the appearance of gender division may be aplausible explanation for the dissapearance of neanderthals but we have no direct evidence. other theories for their disappearance are equally plausible e.g climate change.

research support

mate choice: the predicted difference in how males and females advertise themselves to the opposite sex was confirmed by Waynforth and Dunbar. they used personal ads to assess what men and women were seeking and also what they were advertising. the results were as predicted.

tend and befriend: Ennis conducted a natural experiment to test male or female difference in stress responses. they sampled levels of cortisol a week before students took exams. in the male pps there was a significant increase in cortisol whereas in females there was a significant decrease. Taylor showed that in women levels of oxytocin increased with stress.

implications

meat sharing hypothosis: when humans turned from a vegetarian diet to one that included meat, men became the hunters because of selected pressures. this may mean that men used meat as a means of attracting female interest (Stanford). studies of modern hunter - gatherer societies have found that men used meat as means of getting access to women (Hill and Caplan).

Autism: Baron-Cohen suggested that autism may a result of the extreme male brain which excels at systematising and lacks the ability to empathise. b-c has found that autistics score high at systematising and low on empathising.

biosocial

biosocial theory

Dr Money

social role theory

grenades

evaluation

genes and hormones

the role of hormones

gender development is actually governed by hormones., prenatally and during puberty. hormones affect the development of genitalia and the brain

development of genetalia

the role of hormones can be studied through individuals exposed prenatally to abnormal levels of hormones. in some cases a genetic male is exposed to too little male hormone and externally appears female (AIS)

CASE STUDY: BATISTA FAMILY

Similar to this, genetic females can be exposed to relatively large doses of male hormone, which results in ambiguous genitalia. these individuals are usually labelled as girls at birth and the majority are happy with this, although they are often more tomboyish as a result of the male hormone presence.

brain development

animal studies: the effects of testosterone on the brain devlopment has been confirmed in animals. Quadagno found that monkeys exposed to testosterone prenatally were more likely to engage in rough play than other females and were more aggr.

sex differences explained: male and female brains are v different. females are better at empathising, talking and have lower spatial awareness. Geschwind suggested it maybe the efffects of testosterone on the brain.

CASE STUDY DR MONEY AND THE BURNT OFF PENIS.

the role of genes

each person has 23 pairs of chromosomes, each carrying hundreds of genes, containing info about physical and behavioural characteristics

one pair of chromosomes are the sex chromosomes, the female has ** and the male has XY.

usually there is a direct link between chromosomes and external genitaia.

all embryos start out the same,. before 3 months all foetus' have female genitalia. after this if an individual is male, they start producing testosterone and external male genitals develop.

genetic transmission explains how individuals aquire their sex. it may also explain some aspects of gender because of the link between genes and hormones

evaluation

The importance of genetc factors

Dr Money claimed that biological sex was not the main factor in gender development. he argued that sex of rearing was much more important and recommended that intersex individuals could successfully be raised as either gender.

he got disproved by his own case study (BURNT PENIS) . this was further supported by research Erdhart found that 16 genetic males born without a penis. two were raised as males and remained male. the subsequent 14 were raised as female and 8 reassigned themselved back to male by 16.

biological factors have a key role in gender development.

biological determinism

genes and hormones arent the full story either. the eventual outcome for each individual is what appears to be a complex and unpredictable combination of genes, hormones, sex of rearing and socialisation. for CAH individuals, their ambigueous genitalia doesnt always affect their gender development. what ever gender is accepted at birth is accepted by some and not others

thus gender is part biologically determined, but experience, personal qualities and socialisation also have a key role.

grenades

nature and nurture are prevalent throughout this whole topic!!!!!!!!!!!

real world application: problem for the Olympics committee, before 1991 the genetic sex was not tested but only ** and XY individuals could compete. there was a ruling stating that genetic sex would no longer determine entry, individuals are only excluded if they look obviously male.

so genetic sex no longer determines gender!!!

Psychological explanations

Kohlberg's cognitive development

background

stages

evaluation

grenades

Gender schema theory

explanation

evaluation

grenades

Social contexts

cultural influences

cultural similarities

evaluation

cultural variations

Untitled

grenades

social influences

social cognitive theory

evaluation

sources of influence

evaluation

grenades

genes and hormones

the role of hormones

gender development is actually governed by hormones., prenatally and during puberty. hormones affect the development of genitalia and the brain

development of genetalia

the role of hormones can be studied through individuals exposed prenatally to abnormal levels of hormones. in some cases a genetic male is exposed to too little male hormone and externally appears female (AIS)

CASE STUDY: BATISTA FAMILY

Similar to this, genetic females can be exposed to relatively large doses of male hormone, which results in ambiguous genitalia. these individuals are usually labelled as girls at birth and the majority are happy with this, although they are often more tomboyish as a result of the male hormone presence.

brain development

animal studies: the effects of testosterone on the brain devlopment has been confirmed in animals. Quadagno found that monkeys exposed to testosterone prenatally were more likely to engage in rough play than other females and were more aggr.

sex differences explained: male and female brains are v different. females are better at empathising, talking and have lower spatial awareness. Geschwind suggested it maybe the efffects of testosterone on the brain.

CASE STUDY DR MONEY AND THE BURNT OFF PENIS.

the role of genes

each person has 23 pairs of chromosomes, each carrying hundreds of genes, containing info about physical and behavioural characteristics

one pair of chromosomes are the sex chromosomes, the female has ** and the male has XY.

usually there is a direct link between chromosomes and external genitaia.

all embryos start out the same,. before 3 months all foetus' have female genitalia. after this if an individual is male, they start producing testosterone and external male genitals develop.

genetic transmission explains how individuals aquire their sex. it may also explain some aspects of gender because of the link between genes and hormones

evaluation

The importance of genetc factors

Dr Money claimed that biological sex was not the main factor in gender development. he argued that sex of rearing was much more important and recommended that intersex individuals could successfully be raised as either gender.

he got disproved by his own case study (BURNT PENIS) . this was further supported by research Erdhart found that 16 genetic males born without a penis. two were raised as males and remained male. the subsequent 14 were raised as female and 8 reassigned themselved back to male by 16.

biological factors have a key role in gender development.

biological determinism

genes and hormones arent the full story either. the eventual outcome for each individual is what appears to be a complex and unpredictable combination of genes, hormones, sex of rearing and socialisation. for CAH individuals, their ambigueous genitalia doesnt always affect their gender development. what ever gender is accepted at birth is accepted by some and not others

thus gender is part biologically determined, but experience, personal qualities and socialisation also have a key role.

grenades

nature and nurture are prevalent throughout this whole topic!!!!!!!!!!!

real world application: problem for the Olympics committee, before 1991 the genetic sex was not tested but only ** and XY individuals could compete. there was a ruling stating that genetic sex would no longer determine entry, individuals are only excluded if they look obviously male.